Ed Lewis Bests Dick Shikat

This week’s post is to finish up the story of the double cross involving Dick Shikat and Danno O’Mahony. Orijin yo pou kwa doub la aktyèlman te kòmanse nan yon match ak Ed “Strangler” Lewis nan Madison Square Garden nan mwa jen 9, 1932. Pandan ke match sa a te yon egzibisyon davans, the wrestlers had been in discussion about Lewis dropping the belt to Shikat. Shikat had already made a deposit of earnest money with the promoters. This money was used to make sure that the champion didn’t go into business for himself by dropping the belt to someone that the promoters didn’t agree to.

Shikat thought that everything was arranged for him to win the World Heavyweight Championship, when he lost to Lewis in MSG. Sepandan, the wrestling scene in the 1930s was full of shifting alliances between promoters trying to get a the upper hand on their competition. The promoters aligned with Ed Strangler Lewis and “Toots” Mondt decided that they didn’t want to put the belt on the Shikat, who wasn’t particularly exciting.

Shikat was furious after losing to Lewis, although he probably didn’t have much of a choice if it had turned into a legitimate contest. Even in his early 40s, Lewis could still beat anyone in a legitimate contest.

At a conference in “Toots” Mondt’s hotel room to try and settle their differences, Shikat became angry and punched Lewis. Lewis punched him back, which seemed to settle their animosity.

Sepandan, “Toots” Mondt considered himself Lewis’s policeman, both inside and outside the wrestling ring. Mondt jumped Shikat, punched him repeatedly and Shikat staggered from the room. Mondt further inflamed the situation by telling everyone about the beating. Shikat didn’t say any more about the incident but was determined to get his revenge. When he was matched with Danno O’Mahony four years later, Shikat saw his opportunity.

Most of the information comes from a book The Fall Guys pa Marcus Griffin. Griffin was a journalist but also a disgruntled former worker in the Buffalo wrestling office according to Lou Thesz’s book, Hooker. His time in the Buffalo office accounted for Griffin’s inside knowledge.

I’ve found an actual film online on YouTube of the Lewis and Shikat match although it is significantly shortened from the hour and ten minute match. I would encourage you to watch it, so you can get an idea of wrestling in the 1930s. The wrestlers in the thirties were trying to make all of the matches look like legitimate contest, so you don’t see a lot of the high-flying stuff. It’s mostly some ground based grappling.

I won’t cover many more matches from this time period but I found the story of the Shikat-O’Mahony double cross fascinating. A match and confrontation with a different wrestler led to one of the more significant double crosses in professional wrestling.

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Sources: The Fall Guys pa Marcus Griffin

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